Old habits die hard. The latest flap between the good citizens of Foster City and San Mateo is just one more in a long series of conflicts that date all the way back to the former’s founding more than 50 years ago.

The new disagreement involves a $130 million bond package that is designed to upgrade campuses in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District. The bulk of the money, if Measure P is approved by at least 55 percent of the voters Nov. 5, would be spent in Foster City at Bowditch Middle School.

That fact, among other things (a purportedly flawed planning process, concerns about academic equity for low-income students, unspent cash from a previous bond, spending priorities, communication issues and so on), rankles a lot of folks in San Mateo, where more than 70 percent of the district’s 11,500 pupils reside.

They are so upset that they are actively opposing the proposed bond. The anti-P forces are organized, vocal and determined to defeat the measure. And they just might.

This week, they sought the official support of the San Mateo City Council. After a lengthy public hearing and considerable debate, they were turned down on a 3-2 vote. But a great deal of damage has still been done to the Measure P backers and their cause even as the slim council majority (Jack Matthews, Brandt Grotte and Maureen Freschet) agreed to remain neutral in the run-up to the election.

Mayor David Lim and Vice Mayor Robert Ross wanted the council to come out firmly against Measure P.

Foster City has seen this act before. San Mateo wanted nothing to do with an influx of students from the planned island community when it was first envisioned in the late 1950s. Getting public schools built there was like pulling teeth.

A public high school, for which land had been set aside by the original developer of the bay front suburb, never materialized. A private, coed Episcopalian high school, which seemed like a done deal at the time, didn’t either.

A grand attempt to create a separate, unified K-12 public school district for Foster City flopped too. It would have been too expensive. Even the very name of the district has gone through a metamorphosis. But it took decades to add the words “Foster City” to the official moniker.

Ironically, the board of trustees that agreed to place Measure P on the ballot in the first place has three members from San Mateo (one of them from the unincorporated portion of the town) and only two from Foster City. The vote on that decision was 4-1, with Trustee Ellen Ulrich, of San Mateo, opposed.

She’s one of the leaders of the anti-P group now. And she has chosen not to seek re-election next month. So has another trustee, Julie Chan, of Foster City. Their places will be taken by two San Mateo residents, Chelsea Bonini and Ed Coady who are running unopposed.

What are their views on Measure P? Both say they will vote against it but will not publicly campaign against it. Board President Lory Lawson is also running for re-election unopposed.

So, after Nov. 5, the board makeup will be four trustees from San Mateo and just one from Foster City. It will be hard for those in Foster City to complain about a lack of representation on the board when no one from that community chose to run for either of the open seats at this critical juncture.

All in all, it’s been something of a sorry and divisive debacle. If, somehow, Measure P is given a thumbs-up by the 20-school district’s electorate, it will be a minor miracle, given the ongoing discord.

Robert Braun, a former district trustee from nearly two generations ago, urged conciliation and a yes vote on Measure P and tried to sum up the current spectacle best when he addressed San Mateo council members this week and pointed out that, “Once again, Foster City children are being pushed under the rug.”

That might be considered harsh hyperbole in some quarters but certainly not in Foster City where feelings of second-class status when it comes to education matters have persisted for decades.

John Horgan’s column appears Thursday. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.or by regular mail at P.O. Box 117083, Burlingame, CA 94011.

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